Authorities release name of Williamston man shot by deputies

A deputy puts up crime-scene tape to cordon off a shooting scene just outside Williamston.

Investigators work at the scene of a shooting just outside Williamston.

Anderson County sheriff's deputies work at the scene of a shooting just outside Williamston.

A Williamston man was shot by Anderson County deputies who were trying to negotiate with him Monday night.

WILLIAMSTON - A shooting involving at least two Anderson County sheriff's deputies has left a Williamston man dead.

Sheriff John Skipper said the shooting happened around 7:45 p.m. Monday at a home on Old Field Circle just outside the Williamston city limit.

Deputies had gone to the home after neighbors called 911 and asked them to check on the man who lived there. The man was Charles Eugene Porter II, said Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore on Tuesday morning.

Neighbors told deputies that the man who was killed was suicidal and had been drinking heavily.

Skipper said the deputies went to the home to negotiate with the man and try to persuade him not to harm himself. Skipper said two deputies were in the house negotiating with the man and a third deputy was on the porch.

Skipper said the man had a gun near him and he grabbed it and it appeared that he was about to shoot the deputies. At that point, the two deputies inside shot at him.

Those two deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave while the S.C. Law Enforcement Division investigates the shooting, Skipper said. The sheriff said he would have to learn more about the third deputy's involvement before he decided whether to place that deputy on leave.

The sheriff declined to identify any of the three deputies.

Skipper said his deputies had been to the address before, but he declined to disclose the reason.

At 10:20 p.m., the sheriff's deputies were waiting for the arrival of a SLED forensics team from Columbia.

Investigators had crime-scene tape stripped across Old Field Circle, keeping reporters and neighbors about a quarter of mile from the house.